Down the Rabbit Hole
by DravynLeCrux
Summary: Lie Ren. Stoic, martial arts master. Velvet Scarlatina, rabbit Faunus who hides her nature and physical traits. What will happen with the lotus falls for the hare? Will love bloom, or will Velvet's secret tear them apart? Only time will tell. ChineseRabbit pairing (might need a new name for that).
1. A Hoppy Meeting

***Author's Note***

**Hello there readers. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Dravyn LeCrux, author of Love is a Knight-mare (the greatest Ruby and Jaune fiction on this site, as said by me.) Anyhow, this is a new project I was considering while working on LiaK-m. During the series, I had spoken to another author, Shiranai Atsune, and something was said that got me to considering; I need a new pairing. One that's not so done, but seems interesting. One thing led to another, and the RenxVelvet idea was born. **

**Anyhow, this is an experimental chapter, so let me know if you like it. If you do, I may continue it. No, it won't be slow, like LiaK-m. I plan to have it move faster, because it's a stand-alone chapter, for now. As usual, comments will be welcomed. Constructive criticism, or just support for the story itself is always greatly appreciated, and helps me improve bit by bit.**

**Now, without further ado, I bring you Down the Rabbit Hole.**

"Nora! Give me back my sword!"

"Wahahah! Nope, sorry Jaune. You gotta take it back!"

Ren's day was like any other. He'd been at Beacon a little over a month now, and Nora was still as insufferable as ever. Her hyperactivity had not been curbed by all of the training and studying. If anything, she seemed to get worse at times. At present, she was currently giving his team leader, Jaune Arc, some trouble. Dressed in a black hoodie, simple breast plate armor, and jeans, and with his scraggly blonde hair, Jaune wasn't much to look at. Not in a vain way, but in a fighter's sort. He didn't look imposing. And Nora sometimes loved to take advantage of that.

Nora, hopping around in her pink skirt, short orange hair bouncing everywhere, along with her... assets, Ren was having trouble deciding where to rest his eyes. When Pyrrha tried stepping in to break it up, Ren had decided enough was enough, and left the dorm.

Wandering about Beacon, Ren reflected on the past month. The first day, with Nora making sleep nearly impossible; the test in the Emerald Forest, where he partnered up with his childhood friend and became a team with Jaune and Pyrrha; and all of the classes they had dealt with together. He figured it wasn't so bad. He just wishes Nora would calm down.

Walking through the courtyard, Ren reached the academy's "Open Garden." It was an area where anyone who wanted to could grow whatever they felt like. Ruby, Team RWBY'S leader and a good friend of his and his teammates, liked to grow her namesake here, Roses. Her older sister, Yang, liked to grow sunflowers. And not the small ones either. The massive, six foot tall ones that blocked out the sun from the poor, short plants below them. Blake, another member of the sister's team, liked to grow a plant called Atropa Belladonna. The name sounded sinister to him, so he didn't even try to find out what it was.

As he wandered the gardens, Ren saw a sight that made his heart skip a beat. Leaning down, in a rather large plot, was a young woman. She had long, chocolate brown hair. Her skin was smooth and pale, but not an unhealthy shade. She wore her uniform, and a wide brimmed hat atop her head. Around her neck was a carrot print neckerchief, which she seemed to be using to keep the dirt off of her face.

She was currently digging up and harvesting what appeared to be some vegetables. Getting a slightly better look, Ren saw that she had grown a vegetable garden. Carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers. She'd had quite a variety. And she tended to them with swift, practiced moves. Wanting still a better view, Ren began to move closer. Had he paid attention, Ren would have noticed the hat twitch slightly before the girl turned around to face him. He'd finally gotten a good look at her face. It wasn't cute or sexy. Ren would describe it more as beautiful. Holding a sense of maturity and grace a lot of the girls in Beacon lacked. And her eyes. Those are what captivated Ren. Her eyes were large, very large. And they were a deep, dark black. As Ren looked into them, he was having trouble tearing away.

"Who are you?" She spoke. Her voice was soft, with a slight accent to it. One Ren couldn't exactly place.

"Oh, sorry. I had not meant to disturb you. I was just curious about what you were planting. My name's Lie Ren. Please though, call me Ren."

"Well, hello Ren. My name is Velvet. Velvet Scarletina. If you really want to know, I was growing some fresh produce for myself. I find the lack of good salad options to be awful sometimes. So, I decided to grow my own."

"Impressive. And how'd you get such a large lot?"

"I'd brought my complaint to Professor Ozpin, who told me that I could do something about it myself. When I asked what, he allowed me an extra plot I the garden. I figured that was good enough, so I accepted."

So Ren and Velvet continued to chat, Ren proving to be quite knowledgeable about plants and botany in general. As the time went on, an hour passed. Then another. And another still. Having wasted the day talking, Ren had decided to get on his way back to the dorm. No doubt by now Nora would be going crazy, and he'd have to stop her. As usual.

"It was fun talking, but I should go."

"Oh, okay then. Will umm, will I get the chance to see you again?" Asked Velvet, with eyes as large and deep as a rabbit's.

"Sure. How about we exchange contact information?" Saying so, Ren brought out his scroll. Brushing her hands of the dirt, Velvet did the same. Reaching into her bag, she'd pulled out her own scroll, and the two exchanged info with one another. "How about we meet up tomorrow? Same place?"

"Sure."

"Well then, have a nice day, Velvet."

With that, Ren turned to return to the room. Having decided his day was well spent, Ren decided to catch some Z's and hit tomorrow running. Rarely had he ever been so eager for the next day to come, and to wake up and greet that day.

Entering the dorm, he found Nora harassing Pyrrha this time. She was grabbing at the red haired Amazon's chest._ What the hell?_

"Nora, what is going on?"

Noticing Ren, Nora's near-permanent Cheshire smile somehow grew even wider, and she scampered away from Pyrrha and over to Ren, where she started on some story about drinking hot chocolate and wanting to compare female chest sizes for "girl time". Pyrrha was being reluctant, so Nora was trying to measure her rather forcefully. In a fight, Pyrrha may be more skilled and agile, but Nora was doubtlessly stronger. Once she'd had her hands on Pyrrha, Nora had the advantage. Poor Pyrrha.

After giving her crazy explanation, Ren scolded her, and sent her to take a nap. After making sure Pyrrha hadn't suffered any mental scars from Nora's assault, Ren settled down and began to consider the night's dinner. He had trouble focusing on food however, because she kept appearing in his thoughts. Velvet.

After preparing dinner, though burning the fish slightly in the process, which upset Nora who loved fish, Ren prepared for bed. Brushing his teeth, Ren's scroll began to beep. Checking the caller ID, Ren saw that it was Velvet. She'd sent him a message.

'Hi Ren. It's me, Velvet. How are you?'

Smiling at the message, he responded.

'Hello Velvet. I'm fine. Looking forward to tomorrow.'

And with this, started a little back and forth between the two that lasted a few minutes until Velvet had to go to bed. Following suit, Ren went to his own bed, climbed in, and drifted to sleep. And as he drifted off, dreaming of carrots, a shadow watched over his sleeping frame.

"You've been with another girl, have you?" Whispered the shadow, to nobody in particular. "I can smell her on you. Damn it, who is trying to take you from me?" Finishing with some teeth grinding, the shadow simply hovered over Ren, watching him as he slept. Watching and, it seems, guarding. But from who? Competition?

In the morning, Ren was up earlier than usual. Getting ready in less time than it takes Pyrrha to beat most of her opponents, Ren was out of the room. Walking with speed and a purpose, Ren soon found himself in the gardens. He remembered the area, and soon he was back at the plot from yesterday. And leaning down, working on her veggie garden, was Velvet. Turning around, she noticed him, and smiled. A simple action that set him at peace.

***Afterword***

**So yeah, enjoy it? Yeah, shorter than my average LiaK-m chapter, so meh. Sadly, my brain doesn't work well lately. But again, I hope you all enjoyed it. If there's enough of a demand, I may continue it. But hey, your call. Otherwise, constructive criticism is, as always, encouraged. Or even just support for the story itself, if you liked it. Anyhow, I'm off to bed. Ciao.**


	2. Hare-y Morning

***Author's Note***

**Yeah, this will be the last chapter for this series. Writing it is a pain, so meh. Maybe I'll put the pairing in my other story, but I feel that giving it its own story is too much work. Thank you for supporting Down the Rabbit Hole. So, here's the second and last chapter of this tale.**

Ren was feeling very light this morning. He'd woken up feeling like he was ready for a new day. Maybe it was the meal Ruby and her team cooked and shared with them last night. Maybe it was his new specialized Lotus Incense, meant to help relax those stressed out. Maybe it was the thought of seeing Velvet later.

Ren had been visiting her in her little plot the past couple of days, since having met her. Each time, they would engage in a conversation. This alone would count as a surprise to anyone who knew Ren, as all of his friends knew he was no chatterbox. In fact, one could say he was Nora's exact opposite; calm, level headed, stoic, and quiet. He didn't really speak much, but what he said usually held some weight. That, or he was admonishing Nora yet again.

This day was like the last few. Ren woke up, the previous night spent discussing herbs and botany with Velvet. He got up, brushed his teeth, and dressed out as fast as he could. Packing his stuff, he went for an early breakfast with the only others who were usually up at this time; Ruby, Blake, and Jaune. From what he could gather, the people here needed the least amount of morning maintenance. Ruby's outfit was simple and easy to put on, and she left always left her hair a bit messy (a style she said she liked, as it seemed wolf-like to her.) Blake seemed to not the vain type, and didn't require as much effort to keep her beauty, like the others girls. And Jaune was... well, simple and plain. Looks wise. His vanity didn't really consist of much else besides brushing his teeth.

As it were, Ren usually gathered in the mornings to eat with them. These moments were, more or less, some of the most peaceful times Ren got to experience here at Beacon. The rest was spent either training with Pyrrha's Spartan ways, dealing with the RWBY sisters and their antics, or keeping Nora on a leash.

During breakfast, the conversation was about normal topics. What lessons they had for the day, what teachers were fun, which teachers were boring, and Port's usual self-absorbed lectures. If Ren had to hear one more story from Professor Port about his "younger glory days", he was going to take the teacher's axe from the wall and split this own head in half. And the topic gradually drifted to a subject that had been very touchy in the academy recently. Faunus.

"I just don't think it's right for team CRDL to have done that to the Faunus Studies club. That can't even count as a prank. It was a malicious act meant to harm these poor Faunus."

"A delicious act to hurt the Faunus?"

"Ruby," said Blake, knowing by now that her leader was a bit slow at times unrelated to battle. "I'd said 'malicious', as in cruel or evil. Destroying their club room and spray painting 'Dirty half breeds' does not count as delicious."

The whole time this conversation was going on, Ren just sat their impassively. Blake was defending the Faunus and portraying them as the victims, while Jaune innocently brought up events where the White Fang, a Faunus activists group, has caused more problems than anything. This led to Blake arguing against the White Fang and condemning them. With the conversation going as far as it had, it was inevitable.

"So, Ren," began Ruby. She always included others, feeling that being alone was sad. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Ruby hadn't realized it, but she'd pressed a touchy subject for the usually stoic martial artist. "I couldn't care less about how Faunus feel."

This caught Ruby, Jaune, and Blake a bit unaware, as they had never seems Ren angry. But his tone when he spoke about the Faunus was borderline hostile. But Ren did not care. He only went back to finishing up his pancakes.

With the meal ruined by an awkward silence, the group finished their meals just as the other four walked in, having just woken up and gotten ready. This was a normal occurrence. Pyrrha came in looking healthy as a horse. Yang came in stroking her hair with a small brush (that apparently was a gift from Ruby, as one unfortunate pickpocket learned when Yang broke both of his arms and legs). Weiss came in looking as regal as ever, her ever snooty attitude still adorning her face. And Nora... Well, Nora was weird in the mornings. Sometimes she was hyper as a Boarbatusk on cocaine. Other times, she was tired and sluggish, as though she'd gotten almost no sleep. This was one of those times it seemed, as Nora was lagging behind the rest of the group.

"Nora, are you okay? You always come in tired." Ruby expressed concern for her ADHD, Cheshire friend. Despite not being on the same team, the two had bonded in the strangest of ways. They kind of sat together at lunch one day when the others were busy either studying or training, and they kind of hit it off. After that, they were, as Nora liked to put it, "BBFF!" (Best Battle Friends Forever!) So as usual, Ruby expressed concern over her friend's wellbeing.

"Oh, I'm fine Ruby. Just some trouble falling asleep. Lately I've been having this dream about me and Ren fighting a bunch of Ursa...!" And she launched into this long ramble about her and Ren fighting off hordes of Ursa at night, back to back. And with every detail, Ren interjected, correcting her. Seriously, she forgot her own dreams...

With the first bell ringing, the group gathered up their trays and left the cafeteria for their first class of the day, Grimm Studies. In class, Ren scanned around for the best spot to be isolated from the others, as he'd hoped to get a quick nap in. What he found, to his surprise, was a certain brunette sitting up near the back of the class. With her chocolate brown hair framing her face, and hanging off of her shoulders like a cascade of cocoa, topped with her little carrot themed straw hat. It was Velvet. Perking up, Ren forgot his desire to sleep, abandoning his plans of grabbing a nap altogether, and made his way over to her.

"Hello. This seat taken?" he asked, gesturing to the empty seat beside Velvet.

"No. It's free for the taking." She replied, with her tone being a little suggestive. Perhaps suggesting that he grab that seat, which he certainly did not hesitate to do. Sitting himself beside her, Ren pulled out his materials for the class; a notebook, sketch book, exactly four pencils (the reason for which will be painfully obvious in a few seconds), a ballpoint pen, and his 'Creatures of Grimm: Volume 11 Edition 7.' While he grabbed his own things out, Ren glanced over at Velvet periodically. He watched the way she pulled her textbooks out, with the same kind of simple grace she had when she was gardening. The way she seemed to focus on having everything right.

""Ren, can I borrow a pencil?""

Just like clockwork, as though on cue, Nora and Yang did their daily thing ad mooched a pencil off of Ren, one he was only about 50% likely to see again, if he was lucky. As for the third pencil...

"Gah! I forgot my pencil again!" Yup, Jaune.

"Oh, no worries Jaune. Here, I have a second."_ Wait, did Ruby just do my job for me? Now I have an extra pencil?_

Ren literally had no idea what to do. He normally brought just enough for what he knew would be needed, but now he had an extra pencil. His slight Obsessive Compulsive Disorder would not allow this. Considering just launching the pencil at the trash bin, he heard a faint utterance next to him.

"Oh foot, I forgot my pencil." It seemed Velvet had forgotten her own writing implement. Perfect!

"Here, I have a spare." Said Ren as he offered Velvet his spare pencil.

"Thanks Ren." Success. He'd managed to offload the extra pencil without being wasteful, and he managed to get some good points with Velvet (though probably not very much.)

And with this, began a long boring lecture from Port. Or rather, it would have been boring were Velvet not next to him. She distracted him. The way she seriously took down her notes, her slightly hunched posture, her tongue poling out of the side of her mouth. Ren found her too distracting. Attention consuming.

"Ahh, and now for a demonstration! Any volunteers? How about you, Mr. Lie?"

This snapped Ren out of his little daze, as Velvet and everyone else's eyes turned towards him. She looked worried?

"Well young huntsman and huntresses, we shall witness a magnificent demonstration of how to handle a pair of King Taijitu, courtesy of your classmate over there, Mr. Lie Ren. I remember when I fought these beasts, like it was only yesterday..."

_Wait, what?_

***Afterword***

**Yup, did you **_**really**_** think I would leave this at a cliff hanger? Nah, the responses to this were rather good. In fact, they were beyond good. I did not expect a sorry about such an unlikely pairing to be so... what's the word? Well, let's just say a lot of you wanted to see another chapter of this. And so, being the nice person I am, I will oblige you guys. Down the Rabbit Hole will be continued. Seven chapters guaranteed, with a possibility of seeing more depending on how it works out.**

**Well, whatever. I hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter. Writing for three stories at once, my updates may be a little infrequent. Bear with me here. Were I not in school, I'd have these out daily. Sadly, I'm busy as all hell. Anyways, I hope this satisfies you until I can get a new chapter out. Ciao **


	3. The Taijitu and the Hare

***Author's Note***

**Hey, guess who?**

**Anyhow, I see you guys like this story, and I'm surprised. Then again, some, if not quite a few of you read Love is a Knight-mare and seemed to like that. If you haven't read, you're either an Arkos fanboy, or not interested in Rose Arc. Either way, didn't see that's popularity blowing up, so meh.**

**I'm still deciding on which direction I'm going to take this. Some of you savvier folk out there may have guessed my intentions. Others might not have. And some are so far off course that even Weiss would still comparatively have better navigation skills. Anyhow it happens, it's the same deal. So, without my rant lasting much longer, here's chapter 3.**

"Wait, what?"

"Ahh, mister Ren? We are waiting for you up front."

_Oh shit! You have got to be kidding me! King Taijitu?_ Those things are not an easy opponent to combat. Ren was frantic. He was wondering what he had done to get roped into such a demonstration. Port, as a teacher, was boring. But his 'hands on' lessons were known to be insane, and nearly to the point of causing some students to be hospitalized. According to him, "it builds character."

Stepping around to the front of today's classroom, Ren noticed that the class this time was larger than normal, which should have given away the sheer size of the opponent this time. Preparing his StormFlower for the coming battle, Ren took the time to calmly survey the classroom. His friends on team RWBY; Ruby smiling and cheering him on, Weiss looking haughty as usual, Blake giving a thumbs up and waving a small JNPR flag (_where the hell did she get that?_), and Yang strangely enough being impassive. As for his own team, Pyrrha was trying to look supportive, Jaune look terrified, and Nora was bouncing in her seat. Her expression was slightly different than normal, but whatever. She was probably just excited.

"Don't you dare harm him, you filthy legless lizard..."

"Did you say something Nora?"

"Yeah, Jaune. I said 'Go Ren!' Taijitu leather purses sell for a boatload of Lien!"

_Yup, figures. Nora cares more about the possibility of money than of me being harmed. Still though, she's probably worried about me in her own way._ As Ren tried to rationalize the situation with his childhood friend in his head, Port came out with a rather large crate.

"Well mister Ren, are you ready? This King Taijitu, which was captured after so much effort, I have named Edgar. Now, face Edgar with the strength of a hunter!"

"Wait, wasn't Edgar the one in the cage last week?"

"Hohoho, you have much to learn my boy. You see, _Edgar is the one in the cage_." Just as a feeling of slight terror crawled up his spine from the way his teacher just said that, Professor Port's Blunder Axe came down on the lock holding the cage, releasing a massive black snake. Each fang, positively dripping with a paralyzing venom so powerful that a single scratch could render one lame for an hour, was as long as one of Ren's arms, and then some. His scales, each the size of dinner plates, could block most small arms. _Shit._

Fast as a whip, the great snake struck. Were Ren a lesser man, he would have been chow for a very happy Taijitu. As it were, he managed to keep himself alive with sheer reflex. The snake's fangs had pierced the area his body had been mere seconds prior. Not resting on his small victory, Ren got up and put some distance between him and the snake. Channeling his aura through his dual bayonet mounted SMG's, Ren released a steady stream of aura bullets into the beast. They were doing damage, but not as Ren had hoped. They seemed more like a nuisance to the Taijitu; rather than hurting it, they seemed to be angering it.

"Well, shit."

Ren barely had time to react as the Taijitu struck at him once again, bringing down its fangs with a force that could have shattered a Boarbatusks armor. Again, Ren managed to get out of the way barely in time. But what got him next was the second Taijitu that appeared. No, rather the Taijitu's other half finally decided to step in. Ren was in a situation most would consider hopeless.

"Go Ren!"

"Represent team JNPR!"

"Remember to make me a snake skin wallet!"

Ren heard his teammates giving him support, and thought about how annoying they were. At the very least, team RWBY was actively encouraging him, with their small leader giving some good advice and keeping him alert. He'll have to remember to thank Ruby somehow. For now, the Siamese snakes were not letting up.

"You can do it, Ren!"

Ren's attention fumbled for a second. Was that Velvet who just cheered him on? Regardless of what Ren was thinking, the snake was not some kind anime villain. He did not wait for Ren's brain to settle down, and struck at the now distracted hunter. Whipping the darker head around, the King Taijitu struck Ren and sent him flying, separating him from his StormFlower. Weaponless, Ren's situation seemed hopeless. Especially with two massive snake heads bearing down on him.

"Watch out!"

Velvet again. Her voice snapped Ren from his daze, and before the Taijitu knew what was going on, Ren was up and charging it. Deciding to go for broke, Ren jumped over the snakes lighter head making a dive for him, and ran along the back of the beast. Reaching the black snake, he increased the aura output to his hands, and smashed down on the snakes head. Dazed, the beast let out a rather sinister hiss, during which Ren grabbed one of the things' teeth. With a great heave, he pulled out the fangs of the snake, and threw them aside. The Taijitu, now unable to use its venom, was in the same boat as Ren; weaponless.

Behind Ren, the Trinity's other head had finally decided to step in. Avoiding an incoming strike, Ren leapt onto the black one's back. Without even considering what he was doing, he grabbed the beast by one of its scales and held on for dear life. The Taijitu, sensing its new rider, began to shake violently. Ren held on, his grasp tighter than Yang's jeans. As it thrashed around, the other Taijitu followed along, keeping its eyes on Ren the entire time. Finally, it decided to strike. This was what Ren had waited for. The Taijitu tried to grasp Ren in its great maw, exposing its fangs. Timing it right, Ren used the thrashing Taijitu he was currently mounting to throw himself up, and out of the White one's path. Increasing the aura in his legs, Ren came down spinning, his foot connecting with the White Taijitu's head. The snake, who's mouth had been open, and which had its fangs exposed, had its head slammed down, fang impaling the skull of its brother below it.

Despite being meant for paralysis, the Taijitu's venom will kill anything if injected in a larger dose directly to the brain or heart. Nothing was exempt; human, Faunus. Even Grimm. Having two fangs in its skull, and the venom going directly through its head, the Black Taijitu was dead in seconds. With one down, Ren retreated from the now pissed White Taijitu. Weaponless, Ren was in a bad position. But backing up, his foot hit something.

The White Taijitu was not very patient, and having just killed its other half, was not very pleased with the green clad hunter below him. Without even a thought, the snake struck, hoping to end this cursed hunter and fill the hole now left by his other half being destroyed with a tasty morsel. Unfortunately, he did not see the two foot long white object in his hands.

When the Taijitu struck, Ren maximized his output and blocked the creature's fangs with his right arm, and using the left smashed one of the previously discarded fangs into the throat of the Taijitu. Reeling from the pain, the Taijitu tried to retreat, but Ren grabbed its fang and pulled down, dragging the creature's head to the ground. Before it could get up, Ren palmed the fang deeper into the snake's throat, causing it to erupt out the back with a force comparable to Nora's grenade launcher. The force tore the snakes head apart, blowing the skull to pieces.

To a stunned class, the sight was amazing. A student had just destroyed the King Taijitu unarmed, and using pure martial arts and aura. The only people not stunned were the members of teams RWBY and JNPR. And Velvet Scarlatina. These eight knew of Ren's prowess, as his friends have sparred with him before, and Velvet had complete faith in Ren.

"Splendid mister Ren, simply splendid! That was a masterful example of how a hunter should be. It reminds me of the time I was dispatched to handle a nest of King Taijitu..."

Ignoring Port's now overly embellished story of his own exploits, Ren made his way back to his seat, and to Velvet. Sitting down, Ren just let his head drop to the desk, tired from the ordeal he had just faced. He just wanted to sleep, and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job Ren. You are amazing."

Comforted by this, Ren lapsed into a nice, well deserved nap. He was out so quick, he didn't hear what Velvet had said next.

"Really amazing. Maybe you could understand me...?"

***Afterword***

**Yeah, I'd gotten some PM's asking me to hurry with Down the Rabbit Hole, so I'm going to try and get more of this out. I'm still surprised you guys seem to like this. Makes me feel nice. **

**Anyhow, I'd like to address some things here. First, I have been misspelling Velvet's last name. It isn't Scarletina, its Scarlatina. So that will be changing, starting this chapter. Second, currently, Ren isn't aware Velvet is a Faunus. I know a lot of you will say that isn't possible, but too bad. For the sake of the story, she's kept her ears well hidden since arriving at Beacon. Problem? Oh well. And third, sorry my releases are so damn wild. I know that with Love is a Knight-mare, I was doing roughly 1 a day. That was before I entered the military. I'm trying here, honestly I am. But between work, studying, sleeping, and computer problems, this is tough as hell. So, be a little patient. These stories won't stop. Not yet, anyways.**

**That's all. Dravyn, out.**


End file.
